A gorilla in the mist and the photographic dillema of a selfie

I've taken photographs of one style or another for years and years. One common theme during that time has been the lack of myself in the images I've shot. I don't believe it's a self concious thing because I'm not shy or anything like it. I've been thinking maybe it's a body image thing, related to being self concious but lately I've realised that body image is a ridiculous idea.

So I've resolved to appear in my images more often and if this offends anyone then maybe my photos aren't for them!

This is a post where I feature quite literally large in the frame!

Gorilla in the Mist

A few nights ago, my AuroraWatch UK app was pinging like mad with notifications but one look through the drawn curtains and all I could see was thick fog.

Undeterred, I dragged myself off the couch, which was incidentally very warm, to visit my local forest, incidentally very cold!

I used a headtorch with a focussed beam with an orange lightpainting colour adaptor making me look like a dalek!

Another on the same evening, the mist made the scene quite cinematic. For these shots, I used two flashguns stacked one over the other with duct tape and a sheet of black card sandwiched between to stop the white / blue light polluting the rest of the scene.

Slenderman 5

This is me posing in the dark trying to align my silhouetted legs. This is the 5th and final attempt before I gave it up as a bad job. Trying to align one's self in the dark with no-one to assist or check isn't as easy as it looks!

Beast 27

I called this Beast 27 because it took nearly as many attempts to get the smoke pellet I was using to go where I wanted it to. I must have used half a tub of pellets to get this!

Socially isolated selfie

I shot this shortly after the COVID lockdowns were lifted. Instead of shooting with someone else I ventured out in to the dark 50 miles miles from home in to this remote, abandoned railway tunnel. Note I look chunkier in this shot than the ones above. 9 or 10 weeks sat at home not working can lead to one's chunkiness becoming extra chunky!

Selfie under the Stars

This shot cost me another flashgun. All I did was drop another Godox AD200 about 12" from the ground on to the wooden bridge. Normally such a low height wouldn't have made much of an impact but the Godox was smashed to pieces. Another £ 350 to spend replacing it! I should probably start a Go Fund Me page to keep ahead of the expense creating these images!

Too late for Hallowe'en

This was a kitchen based light painting in preparation and practice of an idea for a forthcoming model shoot. I promise that the model was considerably more attractive than me!

Shot in one photographic exposure, it seems I look better in black and white....

About me:
I usually specialise in shooting lightpainting images but occasionally dabble in urbex, landscape and artistic model photography. I'm always on the lookout for someone to collaborate with; the social side of photography is always good!

Social Media
https://www.facebook.com/fastchrisuk
https://www.flickr.com/photos/fastchris/